The last thing Cal Poly Pomona men’s basketball coach Greg Kamansky expected, or wanted or even needed was to get kicked out of his own gymnasium.

But the day before his Broncos were to fly to the East Coast for the NCAA Division II national championship, they had to practice at the University of La Verne. Nevermind that they already had to deal with playoff games in two time zones and it was the only day they had to practice.

But the school already had rented out all of its athletic venues. The school does that frequently, with the revenue generated going directly toward the upkeep of the old facilities.

With the anticipated state budget cuts for education coming, college athletic departments are taking a long, hard look at how they do business. All say they have to find more unconventional ways to come up with extra cash.

“It’s tough for us because our facilities are aging, and the last thing we need to do is use them year-round so they’re really taking a beating,” Broncos athletic director Brian Swanson said. “But we don’t have a choice. We don’t have any money in the budget for upkeep.”

Swanson said that through the course of the school year, the college makes anywhere from $30,000 to $50,000 by leasing the use of its facilities, which sometimes includes student housing. Kellogg Gymnasium has been used for everything from AAU wrestling and martial arts tournaments to adult recreation leagues.

There was once a yoga convention at Kellogg while the internationally renowned soccer team FC Barcelona trained on the soccer fields.

Cal State San Bernardino athletic director Kevin Hatcher had never required his coaches to fundraise, although it was strongly encouraged. But for the 2009-10 school year, he is mandating that all coaches raise 10 percent of their total budget, to be held in reserve in case they go over budget.

Summer sports camps and golf tournaments are the most common fundraisers for all the locals. But with the economy in turmoil, even those events aren’t generating what they have in the past. Schools are working harder just to come up with the money for basic needs. Forget the extras.

Most colleges use the summer athletic camps to pay the salaries of their assistant coaches. Cal State San Bernardino is conducting camps in basketball, volleyball, soccer and tennis.

Coyotes volleyball coach Kim Cherniss said her camp usually nets $4,000 to $5,000. She normally turns people away, but that hasn’t been the case this year.

Men’s basketball coach Jeff Oliver said his camp last week drew about 50 youngsters, down from the average of 60 to 70 and less than half his previous high of 120. The drop-off in enrollment comes even though he cut the price by almost $100 to $125 per child. He expects to make half what he has in the past, and he isn’t alone.

“We’re in the same boat,” says University of La Verne women’s coach Julie Kline, who also serves as interim athletic director.

“It has been tough this year. It’s one of those things families are doing without right now. ”

Golf tournaments have greater potential for profit between entry fees, cart fees and tee sponsors. The University of Redlands and Cal State San Bernardino run events that feature a golf clinic conducted by Senior PGA touring pro Dave Stockton.

Cal State uses that event to fund scholarships for student-athletes and has generated about $750,000 in its 13 years. It made $45,000 this year, about the same tally it has come up with in past years, but Hatcher said school officials had to work “three times as hard” to do so.

Redlands athletic director Jeff Martinez said his school has made an average of $35,000 on its event over the last 10 years, with the largest profit coming in 2008, when it totaled $46,000.

“There are a lot of sponsors out there that helped out in two or three tournaments, or people that would play in a couple,” he said. “This year a lot of them can only do one.”

Chaffey College benefits most from its aquatics facility, which hosts a summer recreational swimming program that draws 1,300 to 1,400 participants. Proceeds range from $35,000 to $45,000, according to longtime athletic director Bob Olivera.

“We are only limited because of the size of the pool,” he said.

“If it weren’t for that, we could make even more.”

SBVC hosted a high school volleyball tournament called the Desert Classic that ran for nearly 30 years before coming to an end five years ago. The event drew as many as 140 teams, divided into varsity, junior varsity and freshman divisions.

The school made money on the entry fees, as well as on the sale of tournament T-shirts and concessions.

Athletic director Dave Rubio, who used to coach volleyball, said he plans to revive that event in the fall on a smaller scale. He is also looking into the possibility of having a casino night and bringing back the school’s golf tournament.

Most schools have fundraisers for their athletic departments, but each sport is expected to do its own share as well.

“Fundraising is something all of us have had to do, so now we have to do more,” said San Bernardino Valley women’s basketball coach Sue Crebbin.

“You do what you have to do. You can’t skimp if you want to win a championship.”

Crebbin takes groups of players to work events at the Auto Club Speedway in Fontana. The women also have worked at sporting events for USC and UCLA.

“You basically show up and they put you to work, ushering, parking, working the concession stands, whatever they need done,” she said.

The Victor Valley College baseball team generates a portion of its budget with an exhibition game against the High Desert Mavericks, a professional affiliate of the Seattle Mariners. The event raised nearly $4,000 two years ago but returned only half that this spring.

The University of La Verne baseball team also works other events, many of them at the Rose Bowl. The Leopards also operate the concession stand at home football games, run camps and have their own golf tournament.

“We’re always doing something,” coach Scott Winterburn said.

Martinez said it’s unfortunate that some coaches have to worry so much about the economic end of their sport when they already put so much into practice and game preparation.

“We don’t like asking our coaches to do that. Our coaches aren’t going to prepare less, and our athletes are going to practice less,” he said.

“So anything they have to do when it comes to fundraising is going to come out of their personal time. I’m sure it’s that way at other schools too.”

Michelle Gardner has covered high school sports and local colleges for the Daily Bulletin and Sun since 2002. She previously covered a wide variety of sports from the high school level to the professional ranks in Florida with tenures at the South Florida Sun-Sentinel, Naples Daily News and the Fort Myers News-Press and is graduate of the University of Florida.

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